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The popularity of Chromebooks has finally gotten to Microsoft. The company has hit the panic button in a big way by launching a site that compares Chromebooks to Windows laptops in a desperate attempt to put a positive spin on its products while portraying Chromebooks as limited devices.

A Windows laptop is for surfing the web and using web apps. And getting things done with Microsoft Office, connecting to workplace networks, using rich tools to edit your photos and videos online and offline, calling your friend in Paris with Skype, saving your resume to either OneDrive or your desktop, downloading Angry Birds from the Windows Store, using both the Start screen and the familiar Windows desktop, organizing your files on your laptop for easy access even when you're offline, playing Halo, working both online and offline, using iTunes and Photoshop, and countless other things you get only with a full-powered PC.

Wow, you know that Microsoft is really worried when they do something like this. Until recently Microsoft seemed to dismiss Chromebooks as not something they needed to pay much attention to but those days are clearly over. This is a full-blown panic move by a company watching the value of its main franchises slowly dwindle away into irrelevance.

Each time I cover Chromebooks I link to Amazon's list of bestselling laptops. The basis of Microsoft's fear is right there for you to see. Chromebooks are all over the place in Amazon's list and they show no sign whatsoever of slowing down in terms of sales.

Somehow I doubt that anybody is going to skip buying a Chromebook because of the information on Microsoft's anti-Chromebook site. But it does show how desperate Microsoft has become as Windows slides more and more into irrelevance.

To get Google's side of the story about what Chromebooks offer, visit the official Chromebook features page. You may also want to read through a comparison of a Windows laptop and Chromebook that the Verge did back in March. The Verge liked the Chromebook a lot as you can see from the excerpt below:

I had a better experience with the Chromebook, and I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. I used it at home to check Twitter and email, watch Netflix, listen to music, and start a Google Hangout with my family. I even used it at work, writing in Evernote rather than my preferred plain text editor I use on my MacBook Air. All of these spaces have fairly reliable Wi-Fi, but even when my office’s internet blacked out for a few minutes, everybody’s laptops — not just my Chromebook — were rendered useless.

And the Chromebook is just a better device. Its size feels more natural in my hands when I carry it and to my fingers when I type on it, in comparison to the NB15t which feels cramped. A huge reason for buying a low-cost laptop instead of a tablet is to have the flexibility and practicality of a keyboard, and the Chromebook delivers a better typing experience.